Penhold Church of Hope

Roy Mitton, co-founder of Your Thriving Family, shares the progress made in ten years of ministry and the important elements necessary to make marriages thrive. Visit www.yourthrivingfamily.ca for more info.

Local farmers turned missionaries to South Sudan, Russell and Anita Wolf share with us how God is using their team in the world's newest country and how He can and does use anyone to fulfill His great commission. Find out more about Serving in Mission at sim.ca

While there is a lot of good things one can do, the church functions best when everyone does the good that God has gifted him or her to do.

Despite the best efforts of the Sanhedrin to stop Peter and John from preaching the good news about Jesus Christ, God's intention prevailed and continue to do so.

The early church was "united in heart and mind" and their care for each other was seen through the example of Barnabas, the son of encouragement. In contrast, the example of Ananias and Saphira continues to produce fearful reverence and obedience among all who follow God.

Brought before the powerful Sanhedrin, the once cowardly Peter along with John again demonstrate the confidence found in Spirit-filled witnesses to Jesus Christ.

Alex pastors an AGC church in Saskatchewan and visits us with his wife to share his background and their upcoming plans to become missionaries to Mexico.

On an ordinary day as Peter and John went to the temple for prayer, a lame beggar experienced the healing power of Jesus. In doing so, we find God's sovereignty in the midst of suffering and healing through faith in Jesus Christ.

The description of the early church provides us with a prescription: the need to work out our love for God and each other is central to the life of the church at any time.

Whereas the Holy Spirit had previously only been given in limited situations, he was and is poured out on all who believe in Jesus as messiah. This was the message of the Spirit-empowered Peter as he addressed a diverse audience in Jerusalem, a message that has not lost its power or significance.

In both the betrayal and death of Judas and the selection of Matthias, we see the Spirit's invincible purpose and unwavering zeal for the will and glory of God in all things from the opening chapter of Acts.

At Pentecost, all disciples received the awaited Holy Spirit. Still today, we are called to live lives that are filled and empowered by the same Spirit.

Jesus' disciples obediently returned to Jerusalem to await the arrival of the Holy Spirit but they did not just sitting around doing nothing. In what would become a hallmark of the early church, "they all met together and were constantly united in prayer." (Acts 1:14)

Jesus' resurrection was not the end of his work on earth. We find his disciples commissioned and empowered through the Holy Spirit to be Christ's witnesses as we begin to work through the book of Acts.

When we experience the joy of the Holy Spirit, we taste the joy that is at the core of ultimate reality, which is God and His glory.

Christ's death and resurrection is an historical event and we read the historical account from the source material in this Easter tradition.

With His identity and authority grounded in the Father, Jesus was able to assume the role of a foot-washing servant to show His disciples what self-sacrificing love really looks like.

While Jesus' entry in Jerusalem seated upon a donkey's colt fulfilled prophecy, it also highlighted how different a messiah he was compared to what the people expected. In fact, while looking for one type of messiah, Jerusalem failed to "recognize it when God visited [them]" (Luke 19:44)

The death of Lazarus revealed Jesus as the messiah who grieves with us while being the Resurrection and the Life.

In a world of wants and worries, this request in the Lord's Prayer focuses on our need to daily depend on God.

The Lord's Prayer begins, not with a statement, but a petition: "Hallowed be Your name". It is a rich request packed with meaning and relevance for each individual and the world.

God has always desired to be the Good Shepherd to his people Israel; to care for their needs, to provide good things for them, to bandage the wounded and strengthen the weak, to give them a place to rest in safety and peace (Eze. 34:11-16a). This is exactly what we see Jesus doing throughout his earthly ministry, even to the point of sacrificing his own life for them. And He did all that for us as...

From the rich and powerful to the poor and outcast, healing and salvation only comes through faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Just as he did for the Israelites in the desert, Jesus miraculously fed over 5000 along the Sea of Galilee. Now it is through his own broken body that He became the bread of life for the whole world.

In the account of Jesus' calling of Peter, we find the attraction and power of the word of God displayed and shown to be supremely trustworthy.